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For their own goodFifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.

Mercado is one of the first students to make the leap onto the payroll from a new school that helps those 18 and older with learning disabilities.

Last year the defender's office partnered with the Tampa Transitional School of Excellence, a charter school that connects the dots for people with learning disabilities by combining job training, life skills and community resources.

Students learn the ropes through job-site training at several businesses, including in the Public Defender's Office.

"Initially we thought it would be a one-sided relationship," said Public Defender Julianne Holt. She thought her staff would help about a dozen students at a time. "But it quickly became reciprocal."

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Today, students scan closed files into computers to help the defender's office become paperless. Since January they've converted more than 10,000 pages into images. Now, searching for a case can take a couple of keystrokes. Paper files are then destroyed.

But the biggest plus, say employees, is student enthusiasm.

"They're always so excited to be here," said human resources director Daniel Rayson.

Students wear official badges and are overseen by a job coach. They aren't paid, unless, like Mercado, they complete training and are offered a job.

On the fifth floor, 18-year-old Lora Douglas pulls an attorney's files for the next day's hearings.

On the eighth floor, Jonathan Temaul, 19, helps in the mail room.

Students work in the mornings and return to the school in the afternoon where they learn to fill out online applications, use HARTline buses and cook for themselves. They learn what to say and what not to say at a job interview.

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A major part of preparing students for the work force is helping them believe in themselves.

To build confidence, students at school wrote things they thought they couldn't do on slips of paper and buried them with a New Orleans-style funeral.

Maggie Gambrell, 18, barely talked when she first came to the Public Defender's Office. Last weekshe chatted with co-workers in a break room.

Students also learn on-the-job skills at other training sites, including TECO Energy's copy rooms, Publix or Macy's in University Mall.

A version of this story appears in some regional editions of the Times.

Fast facts

Here's how it works

About the school: The seven-room school at E Hillsborough Ave. for up to 100 students opened in 2006 and is an extension of the Academies for Educational Excellence Inc., which includes Hope Preparatory Academy, Quest Middle School and Pepin Academy. It is funded by Hillsborough County schools but run independently. Students come from Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. There is no tuition. Students need only have been diagnosed with a learning disability or learning-related disability and, for the transitional school, have a desire to work. They need not attend the academies before enrolling in the transitional school.

To apply: download an application from www.theacademies.us or call 231-4893.